From the Vice Chancellor
UniSA welcomes the international space community
In
coming weeks you may overhear strangers with foreign accents discussing the
intricacies of space travel on street corners, in restaurants, bars and
cafes around Adelaide. Do not be alarmed – they are not visitors from other
planets, only visitors from other countries who happen to visit other
planets for a living. They have come to Adelaide to study.
With support from Adelaide and Flinders Universities, the University of South Australia is the lead host for the International Space University (ISU) Summer Session Program (SSP) – a nine-week intensive professional development program for space professionals held from July-August this year.
ISU is a world leader in international, interdisciplinary and intercultural space education and research. Since holding the first summer program in 1988, it has specialised in preparing postgraduates and professionals for work internationally in the space sector. It also offers short courses and masters programs in space studies and space management.
More than 100 students from about 30 countries along with space industry professionals, ISU faculty members and visiting national and international experts are here to attend the SSP. When they complete the program, students will be awarded a UniSA Graduate Certificate in Space Studies.
Design projects are an important part of the curriculum. Students work in groups to produce a conceptual design related to a current major international space study. One project will concentrate on designing a solution to an environmental problem of significance to Australia – drought mitigation. Another will address broadband telecommunications services to remote areas by satellite. As part of the program, students will go on a three day field trip to Woomera where they will observe a demonstration of a rocket launch by the Australian Space Research Institute.
To coincide with the program, the National Space Society of Australia is planning a three-day Australian Space Development Conference in Adelaide involving up to 200 space industry delegates from Australia and overseas. With so many people converging on our city at once, it will indeed be feeling ’out of this world’!
When you take a closer look, Adelaide is by no means an unlikely destination for these space activities. A large number of local organisations are involved in or have activities closely related to space education and research. They include UniSA’s Institute of Telecommunications Research (ITR), the University of Adelaide’s World Institute for Space Research, M.net Corporation Ltd (in which UniSA’s ITR is a founding member), Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation, the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing, the South Australian Space School, and specialist companies like DSpace Pty Ltd and Auspace Ltd.
Each year since 1988, a different educational or research institution around the world has hosted the SSP. Previous hosts have included Pôle Universitaire Européen de Strasbourg in France; Cal Poly Pomona in California, and other institutions in Chile, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Japan and Thailand. This is the first time this significant space industry event has been held in Australia.
UniSA is honoured to host the event and on behalf of all South Australians, welcomes the international space community to Adelaide.